The Siegal Lifelong Learning Program, in partnership with the Mandel Jewish Community Center, will offer a lecture titled “Advantages of the Mediterranean Diet” as part of the Health Cooking: Tradition Meets Wellness series.
Roxanne Sukol, retired vice chair of executive health at Cleveland Clinic, will present the lecture Wednesday, Jan. 15, from 11 a.m. to noon in the Mandel Jewish Community Center Stonehill Auditorium (26001 S. Woodland Road, Beachwood).
Around the world, indigenous diets have several things in common: a strong emphasis on fresh produce at all meals, little or no room for ultra-processed items, and lots of beans, or legumes. For example, many traditional foods derived from soybeans are consumed in the Far East; red beans are an important part of the ancient cuisine of the Southwest U.S., and Central and South America; white beans have been eaten throughout the centuries in the Italian peninsula; and chickpeas (and sometimes fava beans) are the major legume of choice throughout the Middle East. Sukol will discuss why these nourishing foodstuffs confer significant advantages for individuals whose regular diets include them.
About the speaker
Roxanne Sukol has lived her career at the intersection of wellness and health literacy. Special interests in food, medicine, words and communication give her a unique ability to share information in a way that makes it accessible to everyone.
A 1995 graduate of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, she graduated with distinction in Biomedical Ethics, and was elected to Alpha Omega Alpha, the Honor Medical Society. Board certified in Internal Medicine throughout her career, she retired from clinical practice in 2022. Sukol’s essays have appeared in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Wall Street Journal, and the Sam’s Club Newsletter, among others. She has been quoted in U.S. News & World Report, The New York Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Martha Stewart Living, Marie Claire, Redbook, Prevention Magazine, and more.